Ladies and gentlemen, the Boston Symphony Orchestra will now soothe you with its rendition of "Kitten on the Keys," performed on kazoos.

It hasn't quite come to that, but it just might, given the orchestra's ridiculous decision last week to cancel performances of "Choruses From 'The Death of Klinghoffer' " by Bay Area composer John Adams.

The Boston Globe quoted the symphony's managing director, Mark Volpe, on the reasons for the cancellation: "We programmed this piece because we believe in it as a work of art, and we still hold that conviction. However, given the proximity of the events of Sept. 11, we have decided in consultation with music director Seiji Ozawa, and with Robert Spano, who was scheduled to conduct it, to err on the side of being sensitive. We will therefore substitute Copland's First Symphony."

That isn't sensitive, it's insensitive to the possibility that Boston Symphony audiences might be capable of thought and emotional depth.

Conductor Spano was quoted by the Globe as well: "This is no judgment on the quality of the work. But it seems inappropriate to perform excerpts from an opera about a terrorist act right now. I fear that extra-musical considerations would prevent a real appreciation."

Inappropriate? What could be more appropriate at this moment in history than performing part of a compelling and thought-provoking work of art that not only relates directly to real-life events but also does so as no other work could right now, giving emotional perspective and resonance to the confusion and pain that an entire nation and much of the world is feeling? Along with Nero fiddling while Rome burned, this ranks as monumental lunacy. Art does not exist in a vacuum but both informs and is informed by the world around it. That is why art endures, why its meaning evolves over time. Art in a vacuum is a falling tree in an unpopulated forest.

Yes, the opera portrays the Palestinian terrorists who attacked the Achille Lauro as three-dimensional human beings. Good. We can demonize Osama bin Laden and his gang of cowardly thugs all we want, as they deserve, but it's actually good for us to remember that they are also human. Knowing what makes them tick as people can only help us steel our resolve against terrorism over the long haul.

What is the purpose of art? Is it merely to comfort and lull us and carry us away? Sometimes. But I cannot forget the first time I ventured back into the fray after Sept. 11. The occasion was the San Francisco Symphony's scheduled performance of the Mahler Sixth, that great, keening explosion of tragic grief. I have heard the work many times, and it has always touched me deeply, but never before as it did only a few days after the terrorist attacks.

My thoughts, my emotions, my utter confusion and disbelief were all given belated voice and focus as I sat in Davies Symphony Hall that night. As much as I love Copland's work, I doubt that his First Symphony would have had that effect on me.

Quite typically, Adams has chosen to take the high road in all of this. In a new interview with the Web site andante.com, he says, "I've long felt that if opera is going to have any future at all as a living art form it has to take hold of the psychological themes and undercurrents of our present lives. .

. . 'The Death of Klinghoffer' is not only about a brief, violent incident from the recent news. It is about religious and social intolerance, about a struggle over land that is as old a story as the very first pages of written history." (The complete interview with Adams about the Boston decision can be found at www.andante.com.)

I cannot help feeling sorry about all of this, and thinking that there is something deeply wrong when a nation galvanizes its forces, its men and women, its determination and its resolve, to preserve the right of the yahoos at the Boston Symphony Orchestra to decide to spare its listeners something that might challenge them or make them think. If we somehow don't have the courage to allow ourselves to be exposed to art that might challenge us, how can we have the courage to defy terrorism itself?

As a former Bostonian, I am ashamed of the Boston Symphony. As Americans who value art and how it shapes our civilization and defines our culture, we should all be. .

LET THERE BE LIGHT: Chanticleer, the men's a cappella ensemble, is hosting "In a New Light," a two-day program of workshops, performances and discussions tomorrow and Friday on developments in choral music. The highlight of the event is Chanticleer's Youth Choral Festival on Friday, featuring 150 students from five Bay Area high schools. Call (415) 252-8589 or go to www.chanticleer.org.